The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system that was operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. In addition to the prototype whose completion was cancelled, five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST); conducted science experiments in orbit; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station. The Shuttle fleet’s total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds.
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA nasa challenger space shuttle disaster remembered on 30th NASA Space Accidents Shuttle .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA texas drought exposes space shuttle columbia tank debris Space Shuttle NASA Accidents .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA nasa challenger anniversary transcript business insider Shuttle Accidents Space NASA .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA your letters helped challenger shuttle engineer shed 30 NASA Shuttle Space Accidents .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA 10th anniversary of space shuttle columbia disaster NASA Shuttle Space Accidents .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA space shuttle challenger disaster wikipedia Accidents Space NASA Shuttle .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA space shuttle challenger disaster devastated the nation 30 NASA Accidents Space Shuttle .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA 30th anniversary how the challenger disaster changed nasa NASA Shuttle Accidents Space .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA new 5x7 nasa photo space shuttle challenger at explosion Shuttle Space NASA Accidents .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA a teacher remembers the challenger disaster 30 years Space Shuttle NASA Accidents .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA 30th anniversary of challenger disaster remembering the Space Accidents Shuttle NASA .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA bob ebeling who tried to warn nasa about challenger dies Shuttle Space Accidents NASA .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA take time to remember our heroes Accidents Shuttle NASA Space .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA 30 years after explosion challenger engineer still blames Space NASA Shuttle Accidents .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA soccer ball from challenger explosion outer space photo Space Accidents Shuttle NASA .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA inside space shuttle columbia sts 107 during the accident Accidents NASA Space Shuttle .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA this day in history space shuttle columbia disaster stuns NASA Shuttle Space Accidents .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA shuttle columbia launched on tragic last mission 10 years NASA Shuttle Accidents Space .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA space shuttle challenger Space Shuttle Accidents NASA .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA watch the final moments of the columbia disaster that Accidents Shuttle Space NASA .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA breaking news theyre alive 1986 challenger space Shuttle NASA Accidents Space .
Space Shuttle Accidents NASA the greatest lesson from the space shuttle challenger Accidents Shuttle Space NASA .
The "Dagwood Sandwich" Moon. Earlier models of Ganymede's oceans were based on the assumption that the existence of salt didn't change the nature of liquid very much with pressure. However, Dr. Vance and his colleagues found, through laboratory experiments, that salt does increase the density of liquids under the extreme conditions hidden deep within Ganymede and similar icy moons with subsurface bodies of water. Imagine adding table salt to a glass of water. Instead of increasing in volume, the liquid will actually shrink and become denser. The reason for this is that salt ions lure water molecules. With the GRAIL data, the astronomers were able to map the gravity field both in and around over 1,200 craters on the lunar far side. This region--the lunar highlands--is our Moon's most heavily cratered, and therefore oldest, terrain. Heavily cratered surfaces are older than smoother surfaces that are bereft of craters. This is because smooth surfaces indicate that more recent resurfacing has occurred, erasing the older scars of impact craters. Jupiter is the fifth planet from our Star, the Sun, and it is more than twice as massive as all of the seven other major planets combined! Its immense mass weighs-in at an incredible 318 times that of the Earth.